One problem with having a nice sound system in a jeep is that your windows are made out of vinyl. They are held in by zippers….assuming you have your top up, or you have a hard top. It would be pretty easy to lift some nice equipment that was just sitting there out in the open in an unattended jeep in a parking lot. Also, it isn't as safe as a car with real glass and a locking metal trunk.
Since I removed my back seat a long time ago for cargo space, and have yet to find a good reason to put it back in, since I now have a subwoofer and amp back there....I decided to secure my new sound system. I didn't want to spend a whole bunch of money for some aftermarket trunk type deal.
First, I cut a template out of a large piece of thick cardboard to get the exact size I needed, then traced that out onto a piece of 3/4" plywood. (approx 32x58) I wanted this to be as snug a fit as possible, with not a lot of "wiggle" room. Not only was it for protecting my goods (out of sight, out of mind) , but it will be mounted over a 10"sub, so I don't want any rattling either. I wanted to leave just enough room behind the front seats to recline, and to store the half windows when I pull them out while on the road.
I picked up some grey all weather carpeting from Home Depot, along with a can of contact adhesive and a 2 inch roller, coated both the plywood and the carpet then adhered the two together... paying close attention to the cutouts and corners wrapping it around to the underside with about 4 inches of extra to overlap and adhere to the bottom. That was pretty much it. It was time to put it in place. I just pulled up the rear corners of the soft top and pushed the hardware up over the sound bar to give me the room for placement.
Once this is installed in the jeep and the hardware for the soft top is down, there is no way to pull it up and out of place, not to mention that it sits beneath the "sill" of the chassis as well, so it makes it very secure. Once the tailgate is closed and locked, it forms a nice secure, functional "trunk"… that will keep my gear much more secure that whatever was going on before… (you can't even get a finger between the tailgate and board)
One of the coolest things about this project, is the difference it made with my sound system. It forms an additional chamber for all that bass to bang around in, exiting right where it counts… behind your front seats. What a difference.
Anyway, just wanted to share some pics of my Saturday project, and an affordable way to get a bit more security and functionality out of your ride.
Since I removed my back seat a long time ago for cargo space, and have yet to find a good reason to put it back in, since I now have a subwoofer and amp back there....I decided to secure my new sound system. I didn't want to spend a whole bunch of money for some aftermarket trunk type deal.
First, I cut a template out of a large piece of thick cardboard to get the exact size I needed, then traced that out onto a piece of 3/4" plywood. (approx 32x58) I wanted this to be as snug a fit as possible, with not a lot of "wiggle" room. Not only was it for protecting my goods (out of sight, out of mind) , but it will be mounted over a 10"sub, so I don't want any rattling either. I wanted to leave just enough room behind the front seats to recline, and to store the half windows when I pull them out while on the road.
I picked up some grey all weather carpeting from Home Depot, along with a can of contact adhesive and a 2 inch roller, coated both the plywood and the carpet then adhered the two together... paying close attention to the cutouts and corners wrapping it around to the underside with about 4 inches of extra to overlap and adhere to the bottom. That was pretty much it. It was time to put it in place. I just pulled up the rear corners of the soft top and pushed the hardware up over the sound bar to give me the room for placement.
Once this is installed in the jeep and the hardware for the soft top is down, there is no way to pull it up and out of place, not to mention that it sits beneath the "sill" of the chassis as well, so it makes it very secure. Once the tailgate is closed and locked, it forms a nice secure, functional "trunk"… that will keep my gear much more secure that whatever was going on before… (you can't even get a finger between the tailgate and board)
One of the coolest things about this project, is the difference it made with my sound system. It forms an additional chamber for all that bass to bang around in, exiting right where it counts… behind your front seats. What a difference.
Anyway, just wanted to share some pics of my Saturday project, and an affordable way to get a bit more security and functionality out of your ride.